Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

The HotShot and I take a little trip today to the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve. Why? Because I am now the proud owner of a very nice macro lens for my new camera, courtesy of a wonderfully generous patron of my so-called artz. So, just hadda try it out, check it out, work it out. Worked our leggies, too, hiking over two miles, squirming on our bellies to get the good shots and wilting in the warm SoCal sun. Ah, Paradise!!!

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, a 700 acre oak-lined canyon, with a riparian streamside woodland habitat, surrounded by coastal sage scrub and chaparral-covered hills, is one of 119 ecological reserves of the California Department of Fish and Game. The primary purpose of the Reserve is habitat conservation.

Yearly, about 40,000 folks visit the Reserve, which has one of the densest stands of poison oak around. Trails are open to the public during daylight hours. It is a relatively easy hike on the floor of the canyon via a wide 1.1 mile long dirt trail, which rises only 40’ in elevation over that distance. (It’s when the trails break off to the dams that they start getting really tough, and longer!)